Of the many questions that were raised during the Tiger Woods penalty fiasco at last month’s Masters, one of the most intriguing was how a television viewer was able to get in touch with a Masters rule official to report the penalty while Woods was still on the course.

The answer was easy: He had his phone number.

As Michael Bamberger explains in an article on Golf.com, the television viewer who initially reported that Woods had not followed Rule 26-1a is a Champions Tour golfer and one of the “most experienced tournament officials in U.S. golf.”

David Eger was watching ESPN coverage while at his home in Florida and rewound his DVR to see how Woods bogeyed the par-5 15th. After noticing that Woods dropped the ball three or four feet behind his original divot, in violation of a rule that says a golfer must drop “as nearly as possible” to his original position, Eger called a Masters official, who forwarded his message to the tournament’s competition committee chairman, Fred Ridley.

From there, it’s an entertaining tale of questionable decisions. Though Eger’s call didn’t immediately affect Woods — the ESPN interview is what led to a rules review — it turned out to be Tiger’s saving grace.

It should be noted that Eger’s call saved Woods from disqualification, because it spurred Ridley’s incorrect interpretation, which was challenged by Woods’s own comments to ESPN, which enabled Ridley to invoke rule 33-7, the one that allows wrongs to be righted.

Eger, 61, has won four times on the Champions Tour. He ranks 48th on the 2013 money list, just ahead of Tom Kite.

Posting a comment to our website allows you to join in on the conversation. Share your story and unique perspective with members of the azcentral.com community.

Comments posted via facebook:

► Join the Discussion

azcentral.com has switched to the Facebook comment system on its blogs. Existing blog comments will display, but new comments will only be accepted via the Facebook comment system. To begin commenting, you must be logged into an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. While we welcome you to join conversations, readers are responsible for their comments and abuse of this privilege will not be tolerated. We reserve the right, without warning or notification, to remove comments and block users judged to violate our Terms of Service and Rules of Engagement. Facebook comments FAQ

Join thousands of azcentral.com fans on Facebook and get the day's most popular and talked-about Valley news, sports, entertainment and more - right in your newsfeed. You'll see what others are saying about the hot topics of the day.